Fragile

"That smells good." Manny commented as he inhaled the smell of the jambalaya cooking in the pot.

Sebastien leaned against the counter of the kitchen. Surprisingly the stoves still worked after all these years. Not only that but Owen and Jordan had found the generators and circuit breakers along with a few jerry cans of gas, with minimal power on in the kitchen and cafeteria it allowed Sebastien to charge his phone. Looking up at Manny, he shook his head "Well y'all ain't have much to work with so don't expect a miracle."

Manny chuckled "Well it's gonna be better than the burrito's we get everyday for breakfast. Thanks for cooking dinner Seba." He patted him on the shoulder before heading out of the kitchen and disappearing into an adjacent room. Seba was his nickname as some people thought Sebastien was too much to say at times. Within the last few hours he'd gotten to know most of the people in the squad except for Abby who's had nothing to do with him. While Owen, Manny, Mel, and Jordan were warming up to him, Abby was holding out and with good reason. He knew she had no reason to trust him and he hasn't given her any. If anything he knew he'd have to earn her trust.

Watching as the jambalaya started to boil, Sebastien turned the heat down just a bit somewhere in between low and medium. Grabbing a wooden spoon, he stirred the pot gently before grabbing the lid and placing it on the pot. While he waited for the jambalaya to be done which would be another 20 or 25 minutes, he opened up his music library which was mainly all of the traditional jazz they played on WWOZ New Orleans in the morning. He also has a bunch of classic rock, metal, old school rap and hip hop, blues, folk, electronic, and country music. Tapping shuffle on his music library it started playing 'Fragile' by: Nanci Griffith.

He hopped up on the counter and listened to the song. Feeling tears start to form he let them fall down his face. This song reminded him of his mother and how they'd sit on the front porch and talk about how the day was out on the water, the weather, or the light at the end of each day. When they weren't talking they'd listen to music or Sebastien would play his guitar and his mother would sing songs just like this as Nanci Griffith was one of his mothers favorite artists, hell his mother even sounded quite similar to Nanci. A sad smile found it's way on his face. He found it funny out of the thousand plus songs in his library, this was the first one to popup, almost like a sign from his mother saying she's still watching out for him.

Part of him wondered if he's making the right choice to go with Owen and his group. He'd told Owen he was going with him but he has doubts about his decision. Leaning back against the cabinets as the tears flowed freely. "Fuck I miss you mom." He said out loud to no-one but himself. Footsteps were approaching him and he knew he'd have to explain why he was crying. He still had a small sliver of hope his family was still out there alive but he knew he was most likely fooling himself, yet he still somewhat held onto that belief.

He expected it be Owen, Mel, or Jordan but he was surprised when he saw Abby standing there with her arms crossed looking at him with discontent. "When will dinner be ready?" She sounded annoyed.

"20 or 25 minutes." He said, his voice came out shaky.

They locked eyes for a moment and she saw his were swollen and red, it was obvious to anyone he'd been crying. "Why are you crying?" She was direct and blunt and lacked emotion.

"Why do you care?" Sebastien retorted.

Abby cracked her knuckles as she began pacing around the island counter "Owen said your with us so I'm trying to play by his rules."

Sebastien nodded and wiped his eyes "You don't have to feign empathy, I know you don't care for the reason behind it."

"I mean your right I really don't care but I'm gonna guess by the song and given the world you just woke up in that your crying about the past or someone close to you."

Hopping off the counter, Sebastien lifted up the lid and stirred the pot "Alright detective, you deduced that part. Care to guess to whom I'm crying about?"

Abby leaned against the island counter "It's a female singer, she sounds like a mature woman by her voice so I'm gonna guess your mother or grandmother."

Sebastien put the lid back on "Yeah you should've been a detective because your right again."

"Or you make it too easy, you need to quit wearing your emotions on your sleeve. The heart has no place...not in this world, not anymore." Abby said as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"You've lost someone to then." Sebastien commented as he hopped back up on the counter and twiddled his thumbs.

She stood up and crossed her arms "Why do you think that? You don't know me."

"I don't but had you not lost someone close to you, I doubt you would've stayed once I told you that information. If anything I'd guess you would've said 'that sucks I'm sorry' and just left. You also mentioned emotions and the heart. We're meant to lose the one's we love Abby, how else would we know how much they mean to us?"

Abby felt her eyes starting to get watery and wiped her eyes and stormed out of the kitchen "You asshole." She stormed past Owen who walked into the kitchen and smelled the air. Sebastien paused the music on his phone.

"Seb that smells really good man." Owen looked over his shoulder and pointed back with his thumb "What happened with you two?"

A half grin appeared on his face "Had a heart to heart you could say. Said some personal stuff and I upset her, got called an asshole and she stormed off with tears in her face."

"Well it's a start, she'll come around."

Sebastien nodded in agreement "I'll bring her a bowl of jambalaya when it's done, if she's anything like me she'll want to be alone with her thoughts and emotions and then talk to someone."

"Ha! sounds like you know her more than you thought." Owen commented "Bring her a bowl, it'll do her good to eat and coming from you maybe she'll forgive you."

"We'll see."

"He's a dick Mel." Abby sat on one of the beds in the barracks.

Mel laid on one of the beds with her arms behind her head "He's not that bad, and he's making us dinner."

"That doesn't change the fact he's a dick, he brought up my dad."

At hearing this Mel turned on her side to look at her "Wait did he know your dad from before?"

Abby shook her head "I don't think so but then he said 'oh you've lost someone to otherwise you would've said that sucks and just left and we're meant to lose the people we love because how else would we know how much they mean to us'." She tried to imitate his voice.

Mel laughed at the impression "That's a horrible impression but it sounds like to me he's right though."

"Mel!" Abby couldn't believe she of all people was agreeing with Sebastien.

"Abby be real, when you lost your dad a huge part of you died that night."

"A huge part of me did die that night but that doesn't...I don't know he just struck a nerve with me and I wanted to punch him in the face." Abby laid down on the bed. Yet the more she thought about it and though she didn't like to admit it, he was right. Turning over she was about to say something to Mel when Manny and Jordan walked in with bowls of jambalaya.

"This is fucking delicious and spicy. Amigo knows how to cook." Manny said as he shoved another spoonful in his mouth

"Dinner is ready ladies." Jordan announced as he sat down on a bed and continued eating. Owen walked in a second later with two bowls of jambalaya. He handed one to Mel and sat down on a bed to begin eating.

Abby turned to look at Owen with a surprised look on her face "Owen you didn't get me a bowl?"

"Abs I only have two hands, besides I'm starving."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, standing up she sighed "Fine I'll get it myself from the dick."

Abby headed out of the barracks and made her way towards the kitchen. It didn't take her long to reach it which from a distance she could hear music playing, this time it sounded like country blues music, she hated country music. Walking into the kitchen she was greeted with Sebastien who was pouring a bowl. Not paying Abby any attention, he grabbed a spoon and placed it in the bowl before turning to her "Here you are, I'm sorry if I upset you earlier...I was in the dark place at the moment and I didn't mean to say anything to upset you but when you stormed off like that I knew I did, so I'm sorry and I made you some jambalaya and I hope you enjoy and forgive me."

She took the bowl out of his hands. She wasn't expecting him to so readily apologize and if she is being honest he didn't upset her but the truth upset her because what he said is true. "I wanted to punch you in your face when you said that stuff about how we are meant to lose the people we love. Your right I did lose someone important to me, I haven't thought about it like that in a longtime and when you said it, it just brought back memories. I accept your apology even though you have nothing to apologize for because you're right."

"Well...thanks." Sebastien replied "But this won't be the last time you cry because of me."

Abby gave him a quizzical look "Why's that?"

"You'll have your answer when that bowl is empty."